a process that helps evaluate the potential health effects of a plan, project, or policy before it is built or implemented. HIA brings potential positive and negative public health impacts and considerations to the decision-making process for plans, projects, and policies that fall outside traditional public health arenas, such as transportation and land use. (CDC, 2016, para. 4)

The timing of this journal’s launch, coinciding with Open Access Week, is fortuitous, and it provides yet another opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to OA. We strongly believe in the open global exchange of knowledge, something especially important for practiced-based communities such as public health. CHIA joins several of our other journals that serve diverse readers, many of whom are working outside academia and the resources it provides. Precisely because it is open, the research published in CHIA has the opportunity to influence policy decisions and support healthier communities around the world. We are excited to bring CHIA on board and look forward to its contribution to the growing body of scholarship supported by our OA journal publishing program.